Sox lose for club-record 11th straight time

The White Sox continue to script franchise records for futility as the Indians routed them 8-1 Saturday night at U.S. Cellular Field.

Losing for a club-record 11th straight time to Cleveland, the Sox fell for the 14th time in their last 16 games overall and are a season-worst 32 games below .500 at 58-90.

Asdrubal Cabrera hit a two-run homer and Lonnie Chisenhall added a three-run blast against losing Sox starter Andre Rienzo (2-2) in the Indians’ five-run fourth inning. Carlos Santana had a two-run single in the sixth inning and Ryan Raburn drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth.

Ubaldo Jimenez (12-9) throttled the Sox while scattering eight hits. He struck out eight before giving way to reliever C.C. Lee with two men on base in the ninth.

Josh Phegley had three hits for the Sox, including a double. He also drove in the Sox run in the ninth with a sacrifice fly. Five White Sox pitchers combined to issue eight walks.

“(Rienzo) was pitching 1-0, 2-0 (counts) all the time. Seemed like every hitter was in a good hitter's count,” Ventura said. “He was walking leadoff guys and you can't do that without getting punished for it.

“And that's what that team does. They can whittle you down and make you throw strikes, and make you pay for it when you put guys on.”

Said Rienzo: “I need to figure out how to throw the ball over. If I throw the ball up, my ball goes flying. … need to figure it out. If I fall behind (in the count), it's my fault. I fall behind, it gives the hitter an opportunity to hit me hard.”

The Sox have lost 14 games to the Indians this season for the first time since 1952 (8-14).

Fun hard to find: Baseball should be fun, even at the professional level.

But the possibility of the White Sox losing 100 games this season hasn’t been a blast for manager Robin Ventura and his players.

“It becomes difficult,” Ventura said.

“However, there are worse jobs you could be doing right now,” Ventura said. “In everything you have to realize you’re fortunate to be doing what you’re doing and find a way to enjoy it.”

Danks questionable: The Sox starting rotation includes five pitchers who are 25 or younger. John Danks, 28, the oldest, could be shut down for the season. He’s 4-13 with a 4.73 ERA after throwing 131 1/3 innings coming back from surgery.

Asked specifically if pitchers might be shut down, Ventura replied: “Not necessarily. We still have to have guys pitch. If it looks like it’s a better decision to keep a guy from throwing, we’ll probably do it.”

Break time: Adam Dunn got a day off from the starting lineup Saturday.

“Over the course of the end of the season, you’re going to see a couple more,” Ventura said. “I’ll probably give Paulie (Konerko) a day (Sunday) with it being a day game. With them, they probably could use a break. He looks tired right now.”

Dunn is 1-for-17 on the homestand.

“This year has really been streaky for him,” Ventura said. “He looks really good for a long period of time and then there are periods where he’s swinging and missing. He could be … he’s tired,” Ventura said.